Last day of school

Today was the last day of school.

Not that it really matters - we've been school-less for so long that this just kinda makes official what's been going on anyway. But it still serves as a marker and a reminder of what we've lost this year so far.

At bedtime tonight my son was saying how much he misses school and his friends and how he doesn't understand why 'the virus isn't dead yet' because it's summer now and it is supposed to be gone in the summer.

My daughter hasn't done any meaningful schoolwork in weeks. She still reads a lot at least and certainly will continue to do so over the summer.

We've been having weekly check-ins with my daughter's teacher and the school's behavior specialist to see if we can find ways to help her adjust to things. Those meetings have been wonderful, and a bright spot in an otherwise bleak school landscape. I'll really miss them. (Amazingly they have volunteered to meet with us occasionally over the summer even though they will be on vacation. These are dedicated educators...)

Meanwhile I feel a profound loss from the end of school. I feel cheated out of time with the excellent teachers both of our kids had this year, I feel a lack of closure on a year cut abruptly short, and I feel so sad that my kids didn't get to say a proper goodbye to their teachers and classmates. (The schools and teachers did their very best to make the end of school special, and it's no fault of theirs that Zoom is not a substitute for a proper sendoff.)

So we're on to summer, which will look more or less the same but probably with a little fewer restrictions on screentime. Maybe in August the kids will be able to go to some sort of camp-like thing.

Next verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse...